Dr. Christoph Kurze

I am interested in understanding the intricate relationships between hosts and parasites. My research has led me to focus in particular on important questions about bee health.

Primarily, I study ants and bees as model systems to addresses questions such as:

• What factors shape the transmission dynamics of diseases in ant colonies? What can we learn from ants to develop effective strategies to reduce disease transmission?

• How do parasites manipulate their hosts, and what mechanisms do hosts evolve to counter adapt?

• How and which environmental features affect bee health and colony fitness across the complex urban ecosystem?

• What are the sublethal risks that emerging infectious bee diseases pose to the health of individual bees and the fitness of the entire colony?

By exploring these and related questions, my research seeks to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay between hosts and parasites. Ultimately, I hope that my work can contribute to conservation and protection of bees as critical pollinators.

Figure 1. My study species include (A) the honey bee (Apis mellifera), (B) bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), (C) carpenter ants from Brazil (Camponotus rufipes) infected with a "zombie ant fungus" (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis), and (D) from North America (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), displaying traphallaxis (food exchange). 

Figure 2. Experimental setups we use to study (A) flight performance, (B) foraging behaviour in bumble bees, and (C) honey bee cognition using classical conditioning. 

Figure 3. (A) Experimental setup to study disease transmission dynamics and fungal spores spread in ant nests using (B) gfp transgenic fungal spores. (C) In addition to analysing ant movement, I use network analysis tools to study the relationship between ant interactions (see video 1 below) and transmission risks.

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